General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I Look Down on Young Women With Husbands and Kids and I'm Not Sorry [View all]Squinch
(50,955 posts)I have a career. To the wider world it probably seems small. I help a limited number of people a very great deal. It is certainly not exceptional but to me and to those people, it is very important.
I think that is the distinction pnwmom is making. To your children she may be exceptional, but her choice of career, like mine, is truly not particularly exceptional. But that certainly does not mean it is not meaningful, and it does not mean it is not important. In my opinion, a teacher or a parent, or a doctor or a librarian is doing much more important work than, say, a stock analyst, though the stock analyst is seen as more exceptional in our society.
Who I look down on are those men and women who feel it is up to them to decree the relative importance of others' career choices. It is no different from those who castigated women in the past for NOT having children.
I think the person who wrote that article must be very young and ignorant.